Mexico's murder toll hits 24,374

The number of murders in Mexico rose by nearly a quarter in 2010 compared with the year before as the drug war intensified, new figures show.

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography recorded 24,374 homicides in Mexico last year, a 23 per cent increase from 19,803 in 2009.

Last year's figure represented 22 killings for every 100,000 residents in the country, not all of them drug related.